20+ Years

R100ERS

Right guys a little bit of help please its over 20 years since I was on a bike but walk approx 7 miles per day so at 57 years of age and I am over 16 stone at present and I have just got a Giant to help lose a bit of weight ideally I wanna get down to 15 stone then I will be happier.
Any advice on building up mileage etc or anyone who has done what I am starting would be much appreciated

milemuncher1

R100ERS wrote:

Right guys a little bit of help please its over 20 years since I was on a bike but walk approx 7 miles per day so at 57 years of age and I am over 16 stone at present and I have just got a Giant to help lose a bit of weight ideally I wanna get down to 15 stone then I will be happier.
Any advice on building up mileage etc or anyone who has done what I am starting would be much appreciated

Get a proper bike fit carried out, and make sure you are as comfortable as you can be, by asking advice at a reputable bike shop, about things you’ll need like the cycling kit you’ll be needing. Once you are as comfortable as you can make yourself, build up the mileage slowly. Start with short rides, in your locale, and gradually build up the distances and speeds, over a few months. I’d advise joining something like a local ‘we are cycling Uk’ chapter, or joining a guided ride with British Cycling’s ‘let’s ride’ programme

www.letsride.co.uk , then put in your location, and search for rides. If you build up the riding nice and steadily, you’ll enjoy it more, and you’ll soon get the cycling bug.

Long_Time_Lurker

R100ERS wrote:

Any advice on building up mileage etc or anyone who has done what I am starting would be much appreciated

I started to try to get fitter after sciatica and the resulting back op. Put on some weight while recuperating.
Just take it short and slow and work from there - and find a route or destination that gives you something to look at.
Make sure that you have water, emergency haribos and some padding on your shorts - the first few rides will leave you a bit saddle-sore (no matter how few miles you do - you may not feel it on the day, but you will feel it when you get on the bike the following day )

If you catch the bug, you won't be able to stop yourself.
Just keep an eye on the refuelling after rides - I'm starving after I finish a ride and want to fill up on tea and cheese toasties!

Oh - and welcome to the forum!!!

kajjal

Just take it easy and get used to the bike first. It takes a while to get used to the gears and actually riding the bike. You may find it takes a while to get the right saddle height but if in doubt keep it a little low to avoid over stretching injuries.

As you have posted in the mountain bike section I am assuming it is a mountain bike. If it is then you can always drive to country parks and reservoirs with cycle paths round them as this makes a change from the roads. The same is true for canal tow paths and forestry areas which can also often have good paths. If there is a café there with good cakes and coffee even better


While the cycling will help the only real way to lose weight is to gradually change your diet cutting out things like junk food, processed food, sugary drinks & snacks etc. Try to mostly replace them with healthier alternatives that you like and make sure you eat enough or you will be low on energy and could end up over eating due to being very hungry.

Good Luck

steve_sordy

And stop drinking beer!

RichardSmart

If you live anywhere near the Scottish Borders, I'd recommend maybe getting yourself to Glentress, or, alternatively, Google where your nearest trail centre is, and try going there - you'll find everyone really friendly, so give it a go...

Also, if you live near a canal, you will have miles of flat, fairly quiet tracks you can use to ride on...

RichardSmart

If you do decide to try Glentress, I'd recommend staying here: https://www.glentressforestlodges.co.uk/

I've stayed in these before, albeit in a different part of the country, and they're very comfortable.

RichardSmart

steve_sordy wrote:

And stop drinking beer!

Absolutely - if you don't want to stop drinking, try vodka/rum/whisk(e)y with diet Coke/soda-water/other diet mixer...

robertpb

You walk, run, ride a bike to get fitter.

You control your food intake to loose weight.

If you keep that in your head you won't go far wrong. Good luck.

02gf74

Am I missing something, where did the op say he/she was drinking?

steve_sordy

02GF74 wrote:

Am I missing something, where did the op say he/she was drinking?

He's a bloke, he's 57 and he's 16 stone. Of course he drinks beer!

Bottom briquettes

Get yourself a calorie tracking app like my fitness pal or similar. Put all your stats into it ( be truthful with it ) by that I mean if you have a sedantry lifestyle, don’t tell it you have an athletic high energy lifestyle, as this will screw the whole deal up. For a short while you’ll have to be a bit ‘geeky’ with recording weights of what you eat, and volumes of what you drink. Ride your bike little and often to start off with ( short mileage rides, at low intensity) get an app like Strava or similar, and link it to your fitness app. Bear in mind that Joe average will burn something like 23 calories per mile of riding, at a Joe average level of effort. Aim to get a deficit of a couple of hundred calories per week, based on data, fed to the fitness / lifestyle tracker apps to start with. Limit the amount of calorie dense, substance light foods ( sweet stuff, and alcohol mainly). Gradually increase your mileage and / or intensity of rides, and keep your feeding regime in check, using the calorie tracker app. If you have a calorie deficit, and you increase your activity levels, as if by magic, your weight will drop.

kajjal

steve_sordy wrote:

02GF74 wrote:

Am I missing something, where did the op say he/she was drinking?

He's a bloke, he's 57 and he's 16 stone. Of course he drinks beer!

I misread that completely as he is 5ft7 and 16 stone due to drinking beer